1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an apparatus for loading and unloading a container on to and off of a vehicle, wherein the container has two symmetrically arranged rollers and a centrally arranged hook in the proximity of its lower edge towards the vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Containers of this kind are standardized in the United States of America. In order to move them from a highway onto a load surface of a truck, cable hoists are used, which are engaged into the centrally arranged hooks. In Europe, in contrast, containers are provided with a yoke or stirrup which an angular arm can engage by means of a hook at the wall towards the vehicle, in order to lift the container, whereupon the angular arm together with the container secured thereto is displaced in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. The arm is in the form of an angle member with two limbs, and it pivots out at an end of one of those limbs. The limb that is provided with the hook is telescopic. An example of a structure of this kind is shown in DE 25 57 169 A1.
The present invention is based on the realization that containers of the kind defined in the opening part of this specification can also be loaded and unloaded on to a roll-off tipper truck which in itself is designed for handling European containers, with an angular arm. For this purpose, the invention provides an apparatus that includes an angular arm, at the end of which is arranged a coupling device which is provided with a pair of hooks for engaging behind the rollers and which can be engaged into the hook.
If the coupling device according to the invention is to be used only for handling the containers defined in the opening part of this specification, it can form a fixed component of the overall apparatus. If containers of the European and US types are to be selectively handled, the coupling device is to be in the form of a removable adaptor, which can be effected by the coupling device being provided with a yoke or stirrup into which can be engaged the hook arranged on the angular arm.
There are numerous possible options in regard to the structural configuration of the invention and they will be described by way of example with reference to the drawings.